


Not Enough.

by faerywhimsy (persephone20)



Series: A History of Addiction [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Episode: s03e01 The Empty Hearse, Episode: s03e02 The Sign of Three, Gen, Unrequited
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-04
Updated: 2014-02-04
Packaged: 2018-01-11 03:24:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1168076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/persephone20/pseuds/faerywhimsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From Lestrade's point of view: Lestrade wonders whether Sherlock might start to look at him differently, in the wake of the Reichenbach Fall and his return.</p><p>Takes place within the events of <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/1153851/chapters/2339843"> Back to Day One.</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Enough.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by AugustaAugustus18's comment in the parent fic in this series: 
> 
> \--Glad you have written this story of all the inbetween parts of S3. Chuckled over Sherlock asking Lestrade about Molly. Also the heavy in the air Sherstrade moment.--
> 
> Sherstrade wasn't something I at all intended in _Back to Day One_ , but as I read back through it, I saw that there was definitely opportunity for it. 
> 
> And thus: This fic!

He stands across from the television crews, sipping coffee with Anderson nattering at his side. The only thoughts in his head are, 'Thank god it's over' and 'Maybe now Anderson will stop pestering me.

He's not even right on one of those scores.

In the two years since the fall, Lestrade's gotten used to being right a bit more often. It's not something he'd announce out loud, or even allude to. But, privately, he's a bit happy at being seen as smarter in Sherlock's absence.

Of course, the minute after every time he thinks this, he feels like a downright heel. 

It's been about 7 minutes since his last thought like that when he's walking through the car park under the station, on his way to lunch and... Sherlock. 

Not a television crew talking about him, not his face on the screen. But _Sherlock_. In the flesh, and that god damn jacket, like he's never been away.

Lestrade can hardly form words. Oh, he mutters something under his breath, but what's really important is the way he reaches out to Sherlock and drags him into a hug, whether Sherlock wants it or not. If Sherlock's able to fake his death for _two fucking years_ , then one five second hug is something he's going to have to bear.

The moment later, the two men step back and look at each other.

"You haven't changed a bit," Lestrade marvels, hardly knowing that he's been 15 seconds in Sherlock's company, and already he's wrong again.

Sherlock purses his lips and doesn't speak.

"Well, go on then!" Lestarde's never been that good at silence, especially in the kind of creepy underground car park beneath where he works. "How did you do it? Where have you been? Does John know?"

John.

That integral person. Before John Watson, Lestrade hadn't known Sherlock capable of human emotion. Certainly not human emotion aimed at another human being. It had been how Lestrade had consoled himself for his pointless, useless crush. It wasn't that Sherlock wasn't interested in _him_ , it was that Sherlock wasn't interested in _anyone_. 

Lestrade knew Sherlock for several years before John came to Baker St. In that time, they worked often enough and closely at times. Lestrade got a tap on at least some of what made Sherlock tick. They shared occasional jokes and Lestrade consoled himself with the fact that he might just be the closest thing Sherlock had to an actual friend. 

Despite exposing the lie to that, Lestrade never held it against John. Pretty hard to hold anything against John, really. He's a personable sort, and always good for a beer. Never threw his sudden close friendship with Sherlock in his face, and that meant a lot. Honestly, Lestrade never quite got what John saw in Sherlock. He wasn't even a detective, and what did being a doctor have to do with what Sherlock did?

Now, though, now John was dating someone new. A woman. Certainly that had been a surprise to everyone who knew John at the station, though Lestrade had been the only one gauche enough to mention it out loud. 

"John knows I'm back," Sherlock murmurs, and Lestrade's observation skills belatedly pick up slight discolourations to his face. He doesn't know if that's from John's reaction, or from before. Lestrade refrains from mentioning it in either case.

He wonders how the change in John's relationship status will change other things. Will Sherlock actually look for a figure to replace the part John held in his life? Lestrade feels himself stand up just a little straighter at the thought. He's an early- to mid-... something year old, but that's okay. It's not like he has a hard time getting dates. So, maybe he's been a bit busy with work lately and the offers haven't been flowing the same way they used to. 

Sherlock frowns, looking at him. "What are you doing?" he asks, and Lestrade deflates abruptly.

"Nothing," he mutters. "So John knows, huh?"

"Mmm." Sherlock nods. "Yes."

"And do you know?" Lestrade dares to ask. "About his... uh..."

"About Mary." Sherlock doesn't even phrase it as a question.

"Uh, yeah." Lestrade scratches behind his head. 

"Yes. I believe he was about to propose to her as I revealed my continuing existence," Sherlock says. 

"Cor! Was he? I can't believe it. He didn't tell me that. Cheeky bugger." Lestrade shakes his head, but it's a moment before he realises that's the wrong reaction to take. Sherlock doesn't look anywhere near so pleased. Of course he doesn't. Lestrade feels mollified.

Well, then. It was always going to take a little bit of getting used to. Wasn't like life completely stopped while Sherlock was away doing... whatever it was he was doing. Lestrade would kinda like to find out a bit of what that was. 

"Feel like coming upstairs?" Lestrade asks, to change the subject from John. Sherlock's intense gaze skewers him. Lestrade thinks he almost forgot the weight of those blue eyes. "Yeah, I've got a couple of cases that could probably use your expert opinion. They've built up in the last couple of years."

"I'll do it," Sherlock says, faster than Lestrade thinks he's agreed to anything in the past. 

Geez, Lestrade thinks. The reunion with John must have gone even worse than he thought. "Uh, yeah. Look, I'm on my lunch break now, but if you wanna wait a few..."

"I can wait upstairs in your office for you."

Now there's a recipe for disaster if Lestrade's ever heard one. Ideally, he would have liked the opportunity to at least warn Sally that Sherlock was back again before ambushing her with him at her own workplace.

Might have been something he thought of before inviting him in on a case.

"Ah, well, I guess lunch can wait," Lestrade says. If he can't undo the damage entirely, at leats he can mitigate it. Besides, he's not missing a minute to find out and unravel what happened in the last two years.

*

Whatever bad blood initially fell between John and Sherlock, they seem to resolve it long before the wedding. And, at the wedding, during Sherlock's best man speech--and what a speech that was!--Lestrade comes to find out what it is that being a doctor has to do with what Sherlock does. Every single person at that wedding finds out, in great and excruciating detail. 

Lestrade bows his head at that. It's so clear that Sherlock still has eyes for no one other than John. But John's married now. Surely, this last duty of best man done, Sherlock will begin to move on.

The wedding's over, the would-be murderer is apprehended, and Lestrade finally comes back to the reception to find Sherlock.

Only, Sherlock's nowhere to be seen. 

He doesn't come back to Lestrade looking for more cases. Days slip by and still, silence. 

Sally comes by his office and pokes her head in his door. "Did I just imagine that Sherlock was here the other week? Where's he gone?"

She's nicer, now, about Sherlock since he was exonerated even to her standards. Lestrade's just grateful he didn't lose two good cops to the weight of guilt.

"Yeah," Lestade confirms, rubbing the back of his head. "He's back. He's just not _here_."

Sally shrugs and walks off as if it's nothing to her. But it is something to Lestrade, god dammit. 

He tries calling Baker St a couple of times. The first few times, it rings out. After that, it's taken off the hook and an automated message asks him if he dialled the right number. Lestrade hangs up and takes the hint. Still, he can't help the sunburst of hurt that blooms in his chest.

Three days later, Mycroft walks into his office and invites himself to sit down on the second chair in Lestrade's workplace before Lestrade can stand up and offer. In his head, Lestrade thinks he must have subconsciously been expecting this. 

"So, this is about Sherlock," Lestrade says, steepling his fingers and staring through them at Sherlock's brother. He thinks he's braced himself sufficiently, but with the Holmes brothers, one can never be completely certain. 

"I'm afraid we have a situation." Mycroft's voice is so like and unlike Sherlock's. Sherlock's is deeper, of course. But the two men share the same air of gravity and awareness that people will stop and listen to what they have to say. They are important people, and they each know it. 

"Okay," Lestrade says, taking a breath and wetting his lips. "What is it?"

"It's Sherlock. He's rather fallen off the wagon in the wake of John's wedding. I need you now to keep an eye on him."

As Mycroft goes into some detail as to the disordered state he found his brother in leading to this, Lestrade comes to realise that it's not going to be a long time before Sherlock's over John. It may be forever. Whether it's two years or ten, Lestrade's never going to be able to compete.


End file.
